Garment.



a. E. LOWE.

GARMENT.

7, APPLICATION FILED JAN. 5, 1912.

Patented Apr. 20, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

L VVENTOR Allm'ncyf.

IE NORRIS PETERS 60.. PHOTO LITHOH WASHINGmN. D. C

R E. LOWE.

GARMENT.

APPLICATION HLED JAN. 5. I912.

Patented Apr. 20, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTOR AHm'nU S THE NORRIS PETERS 60., PHOTO-LITHO.. WASHINGTON. D. C.

ROBERT E. LOWE, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

GARMENT.

Application filed January 5, 1912.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT E. Lown', a citizen of the United States, residing at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Garments; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to a garment for women, especially designed as a house or work dress but which may also be made of more expensive materials to be worn on other occasions.

The objection to the house dress from the manufacturers point of view has been in the waist band, it having been heretofore necessary to make the band larger than the waist of the average women in order to fit the majority of them, and then only exactly fitting very few and compelling them to make many special sizes for stout and slender women. 7

She object of my invention is to obviate these disadvantages of the prior construction by providing a dress which fits the'back and has the flat or plain efl'ect both at the front and back which fashion demands.

Another very important object is to provide for permanently adjusting the dress to fit the wearer at the outset whereby it is thereafter only necessary to fasten it up in the ordinary manner without making the clesired adjustment each time the garment is put on.

The fiat or fitted'ba ck and front of the garment is secured by confining all of the adjustments to the portions of the waist band over the hips. This is done by employing drawing strings which gather only the portions of the waist band between the front and back of the garment.

The initial and permanent adjustment of the dress to fit the wearer is accomplished by employing a belt having secured to the garment at of the parts of the waist its middle portion points at one side band to which the gathers are to be confined, while the drawing strings are secured to points at the other side of said adjustable parts of the waist band. The ends of the belt extend toward the opening in the garment, while the drawing strings lead in the opposite direction. When,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 20, 1915. Serial No. 669,691.

the drawing strings are once adjusted to fit the wearer or otherwise secured together, it is unnecessary to afterward alter them. Said drawing strings produce the desired fiat appearance of the garment at the opening thereof while the drawing in of the belt and fastening of its free ends together takes out any gathers which may have been formed in the portion of the waist band to which the middle part of said belt is secured, thereby confining said gathers to the intermediate portions of said waist band which are arranged over the hips. In this manner, both of the objects of my invention heretofore mentioned are attained. The casings in which said drawing strings are housed in practice are formed from folds in the material of which the garment is made, thereby dispensing with the extra pieces of cloth usually employed for making them. This constitutes the third object of my invention. garment embodying my invention has the waist portion thereof preferably opening down the middle of the front with the placket or opening in the skirt located to one side of the front. The opening in the waist and skirt may, however, be arranged at the back of the garment, if preferred. In the preferred embodiment of my invention, the drawing strings have their front ends secured to the waist band at either side of the front panel of the skirt. In other words, one of said drawing strings is secured near the placket which is at one side of the front gore of the skirt, while the other drawing string is secured a corresponding distance to the other side of the middle opening in the front of the Waist, that is to say, at the other side of said front gore. Said drawing strings run to the back of the garment through casings arranged along the adjustable portions of the waist band. The free ends of said drawing strings are tied together to secure the desired adjustment to fit the wearer. After this adjustment is once made, the garment may be worn any number of times without further adjustment being necessary. When the garment is put on and fastened down the front, the free ends of the belt are drawn forward, removing any gathers which may have been formed in the back of the waist band and fastened together in front in any suitable manner.

The invention also consists in the featu e of construction and com ination f parts hereinafter described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and specified in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a front elevation of the preferred form of garment. Fig. 2 is a front elevation showing the dress unfastened and thrown open to disclose the casings, and the drawing strings tied together at the back. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section through the waist band of the garment as shown in Fig. 1 to illustrate more clearly how the shirring is limited to the portions over the hips leaving the back and. front perfectly plain or fiat. Fig. 4: is a detailed vertical section through one of the casings, showing how it is formed from the material of which the dress is made. Fig. 5 is a rear elevation of the modified form of garment which opens at the back. Fig. 6 is a rear elevation of said modification showing the dress unfastened and thrown open to disclose the casing, and the drawing strings tied together at the front, and Fig. 7 is a horizontal section thereof taken through the waist band of the modification.

, Referring more particularly to Figs. 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings, 1 designates the waist of the garment, 2 the skirt, and 8 the waist band. As illustrated in Fig. 4, the casings 4 are made from the fold of the material and extend entirely around the waist band. The drawing strings 5 are secured at the points 6 and 7 in the casings and emerge from the same at the rear ends thereof in the middle of the back. The points 6 and 7 are located near the opposite margins of the front gore 8 of the skirt. As shown best in Fig. 8, the belt 9 is fastened to the back portion of the waist band between the points 10 and 11 arranged respectively at the rear extremities of the portions of the waist band which are to be gathered and which are located over the hips.

When the garment is first put on by the wearer, the drawing strings, which may be made of tape, ribbon, braid, etc., are drawn up and tied to fit around the waist. The placket and waist are then fastened up, and the belt finally drawn in around the waist band and fastened together as illustrated in Fig. 1. As shown in this figure, as well as in Fig. 3, the garment when adjusted and fastened presents a smooth or flat front and back, the shirring and gathers being confined to the portions of the waist line over the hips.

Referring to Figs. 5, 6 and 7 of the draw ings, 1 designates the waist of the garment, 2 the skirt and 3 the waist band. The casings 4?, drawing strings 5 and belt 9*v are made similarly to those described in the preferred form but are arranged in the reverse order, the drawing strings extending toward the front unopened portion of the garment and the belt toward the opening in the A ing is in the back as well as when it is in the front, the adjustment of the drawing strings to fit the wearer may be made at the outset, no alterations being afterward required, whereas in garments of this kind as previously made, it has been necessary to adjust and tie said drawing strings each time the garment is put on.

I claim:

1. A garment of the character described having a waist band and an enlarged casing secured to the waist band and adapted to be shirred to fit the wearer, the shirring being limited to the portions of the waist band It will be ob-' served that in both forms, where the openover the hips by drawing strings respec' tively secured thereto at one margin of each of the portions to be shirred and leading in the direction of the other margin thereof, and by a belt secured to said waist band at the other margins of said portions to be shirred and having free end portions overlapping the full length of the shirred portions of the band and extending in the opposite directions from said drawingjstrings, whereby the front and back portions of said band may be preserved smooth and fiat by tightening each of the drawing strings in one direction and the corresponding overlapping free end portion of the belt in the opposite direction.

2. A garment of the character described having an enlarged casing adapted to be shirred to fit the wearer, the shirring being limited to the portions of the casing over the hips by drawing strings respectively secured thereto at the margin of each of the portions to be shirred nearest the opening in the garment and leading in the direction of the other margin of the portion to be shirred, and by a belt secured to the waist band of the garment at the other margins of said portions to be shirred and having free end portions overlapping the full length of the shirred portionsof the band and extending in the opposite directions from said drawing strings, whereby the front and back portions of said band may be preserved smooth and thereto at points between which and said opening no shirring is desired and by a belt portions of said casing over the hip secured to the other edges of the portions of said Waist band to be shirred, said belt having free end portions overlapping the shirred portions of the band throughout and extending in opposite directions from said drawing strings.

4:. A garment of the character described having a waist band, an enlarged casing provided with an opening in the front thereof' and adapted to be shirred to fit the wearer, the shirring being limited to tll)1e S y drawing strings secured thereto at the margins of the front gore, and by a belt secured to the rear of said waist band at the margins of the back of the garment and having free end portions overlapping the shirred portions of the band throughout, said drawing strings extending to the back and the free ends of said belt extending to the front of the garment.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the 5. A garment of the character described having a waist band, an enlarged casing positioned at the waist band, and means for shirring said casing at the side portions thereof over the hips, leaving the waist band substantially smooth in the front and back of the garment, said means comprising two sets of overlapping members, those of one set being secured to corresponding edges of the portions to be shirred, the members of the other set being attached to the opposite edges of said portions to be shirred and overlapping the first set throughout the shirred portions.

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

ROBERT E. LOWE.

Witnesses:

M. A. FITZGERALD, RosE SCHWARTZ.

Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. G. 

